Gevo wins round in biofuels patent lawsuit

A federal judge has denied a preliminary injunction in a patent lawsuit against Gevo Inc., leaving the biofuels startup free to sell a new kind of Minnesota-made biofuel called bio-isobutanol to anyone it wishes.

Englewood, Colo.-based Gevo makes bio-isobutanol, an alcohol like ethanol, at a converted ethanol plant in Luverne, and it hopes bio-isobutanol one day will supplant conventional corn-based ethanol as a motor fuel.

But Butamax Advanced Biofuels, a joint venture of BP and DuPont in Wilmington, Del., also makes bio-isobutanol and it sued Gevo for infringing on its patents.

Butamax asked for a preliminary injunction against Gevo, but late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sue L. Robinson in Delaware denied the motion.

Gevo hailed the decision Wednesday, June 20.

"We are up against two of the biggest companies in our industry (BP and Dupont) and believe that Butamax's failed motion and ongoing infringement claims are without merit and are merely attempts to derail Gevo's progress," Gevo general counsel Brett Lund said in a statement.

Gevo's stock closed up 31 percent Wednesday at $7.75.

Butamax was disappointed by the denial and plans to appeal, company spokeswoman Pam Schools said.

The preliminary injunction was only one step in a long process, she said. A full trial on the case is scheduled for April next year, she said.

Gevo's plant in Luverne is its only production facility. The plant expects to use it to make solvents for the chemical

industry first and jet fuel for the military, and it has no immediate plans to sell it for use in cars and trucks.

Meanwhile, five Midwestern ethanol plants, including Highwater Ethanol of Lamberton, Minn. and Granite Falls Energy LLC, of Granite Falls, Minn., have indicated an interest in making biobutanol with Butamax, the Delaware company says.

Leslie Brooks Suzukamo can be reached at 651-228-5475. Follow him at twitter.com/suzukamo.